I don't pirate software because I have no need to. I mostly use my computer for recreational purposes, and all of the software I use is freely available. For professional programs, my employer has covered the cost, so that isn't an issue either. It seems that most regular consumers have no need to actually purchase software as long as they are savvy enough to know about the multitude of free options.
Poll: Are you a software pirate?
21–30 of 98 posts
Re: Poll: Are you a software pirate?
#22Honestly, with the exception of a few things work pays for (and I don't need outside of work -- looking at you outlook calendar), I have no need for any software that isn't (legally) freely available. If I owned a mac myself, I would consider buying a copy of omnigraffle, but, again, I don't ever have use cases for it outside of work... In fact, when I have bought software in the past, I have ended up pretty disappoi…
I have felt this way for a long time: In general, the more you pay for software, the worse it is (this is why anything with the word 'Enterprise' in the title frightens me). Note: I don't play many games, so this may not apply to them.
I know I'm in the minority here, but Photoshop is worth every penny to me. I don't upgrade to every version (I usually skip every other one) but I don't steal it, and I certainly don't find GIMP to be an honest substitute. If you dabble in graphics, or are making things for the web, it's fine. If you do some of the things I do, GIMP just doesn't have the workflow or the features yet.
I really don't want to turn this into a holy war, but I have found Photoshop to be an exception to the "the more you pay the worse it is" argument. As a general rule, though, I agree - most everything I use is open-source.
Re: Poll: Are you a software pirate?
#23no right now thanks to MSDN I get most of the stoftware via the university.
Before yeah, esp MATLAB which is worth being pirated :D
Re: Poll: Are you a software pirate?
#24It's interesting that "No" is winning. If we had run this poll in 1990 I'm sure it would have been about 99% in the Yes camp.
Guessing about reasons... what do you all think?
- Software moved to the web and is funded by subscriptions, advertising, corporate behemoths, donations, or mere hope.
- Free software answers a lot of people's needs, especially on HN.
- Operating systems are good enough that we don't need a lot of random utilities.
- Shareware and $10 utility programs just aren't being written these days, because they'd be instantly pirated.
(By the way, when you guys say you don't pirate software, does that include fonts?)
Re: Poll: Are you a software pirate?
#25When I was a kid, yes, today not at all. As a 14 year old there's no way I could afford Adobe Photoshop, or Visual Studio 6 (or be able to justify the reduced cost versions for a student to my parents). So I downloaded them, and learned to use the software, and how to program C++, and learned the MFC libraries. As an adult I have paid for the full versions, and upgrade versions at least twice for each product. I'm thankful for piracy because if it didn't exist I would be living a completely different life. I think it also worked out for the companies too. My first job was as a graphics designer at a cable station. It was because of my experience with the latest versions of the software that I was able to make a convincing argument to my Superior to upgrade their software suite. When I transitioned into a developer role (which has always been something I'm better at) I was very familiar with Visual C++ and MFC, so I gravitated towards those technologies.
Re: Poll: Are you a software pirate?
#26I pirate software I legally own because their "protection" makes it hard or impossible for me to run them otherwise. It starts with games on Wine, goes over a certain operating system (whose company I do not want to call each time )in VirtualBox and ends with games on Windows that want to install what I call malware.
I use Linux and use mostly FOSS software.
Re: Poll: Are you a software pirate?
#27Rarely, yes. Mostly, no.
I am willing to pay for every proprietary software that:
- Has no good free alternative
- Pricing is not abusive
If there's no good free or even paid alternative and pricing is abusive, I don't hesitate to pirate it.
I also proudly share other copyrighted media (music, videos...).
Re: Poll: Are you a software pirate?
#28The only thing I pirate anymore is Windows XP. It lives in a VM and only gets run for browser testing. Everything else is Free Software.
Re: Poll: Are you a software pirate?
#29If you're pirating software, what are you pirating?
Re: Poll: Are you a software pirate?
#30It's interesting that "No" is winning. If we had run this poll in 1990 I'm sure it would have been about 99% in the Yes camp. Guessing about reasons... what do you all think? - Software moved to the web and is funded by subscriptions, advertising, corporate behemoths, donations, or mere hope. - Free software answers a lot of people's needs, especially on HN. - Operating systems are good enough that we don't need a lo…
Yes to all of your reasons, but I think you missed the biggest one:
- Many of us produce and sell software and we understand that pirating makes it harder for people like us to make a living at it.